Silence can be Cured
by Shitaki
Summary: Naruto is going to college and guess who he meets there... none other than the Uchiha himself. But there is something wrong... Read to find out what happens. NaruSasu NarutoxSasuke OOCness.
1. One more chance

**Disclaimer:** Let me just say this. . . if Naruto were mine. . . Naruto and Sasuke would actually be gay. . . but they're not. . . and that really sucks. ;p

**A/N:** Sorry about my other fic people. I still need a monitor for that comp to get it. I'm working on retyping it, though. So it'll be up ASAP. As for this fic. . . I think I will like this one more than my last one. lol

**Warnings:** none for this chapter.

* * *

"I can change Seijunna. Just trust me this time!" Naruto tried to convince his parent, throwing his arms out in front of himself. "Just because I didn't try to do well in school before doesn't mean I won't try now." The man sighed, annoyed from listening to Naruto whine all morning.

"Naruto," Seijunna put his paper down and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "Why would I spend my hard earned money on more schooling for you when you never cared about school before? It'll turn out the same as last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. . ." He trailed off, making his point to Naruto.

"Please?" Naruto begged and pulled out a chair to sit in front of his foster father. "How often do I bug you this much to GO to school?" The blond said, clasping his hands together as if he were praying for something. Seijunna sighed again.

"Never." The man admitted. Never in his life had Naruto begged to GO to school, in fact Naruto always begged to stay OUT of school. His musing was interrupted by more begging from the blond.

"what if I started calling you dad again? Would that help, cause I can do that if you want. Or. . . I'll cook dinner for the next month!" The blond babbled on, thinking up obscured ways to butter-up his father.

Seijunna took on a serious countenance and said, "Put all your video games in storage for the next two months, clean your room, and cook dinner for two weeks. If that happens I'll consider considering sending you to college." Naruto's eyes lit up immediately when he heard this and he practically jumped onto Seijunna, hugging him profusely.

"ThankyouThankyouThankyou!" The blond cheered, jerking the brunet in his arms back and forth in excitement. Naruto jumped off Seijunna, leaving him stunned beyond belief.

"I'll get started right away!" Was all Seijunna heard from the loud blond for the rest of that morning. But Naruto did let out a groan once he reached his room. "Great" He slumped against the door, rubbing his face. "What was I thinking?" He whined and slunk to his knees in the middle of his room, sighing, and starting to pick up random papers from the floor. "This is going to take a while." He sighed one last time.

* * *

Near one 0'clock in the afternoon Seijunna thought it was odd to hear nothing from his foster son for such a long period of time. Something was surly wrong with the boy to be acting like this. 'He must have a cold.' The man thought. He walked down the hall towards his own bedroom, but stopped at the sound of snoring. It was coming from the blonde's room. He sighed, took a drink of his coffee from this mug he was holding then walked to Naruto's door. He turned the handle, opening the door just enough to peek his head in and froze when he did. All he seen was the blond lying on the floor sleeping. . . that's it. No papers, no garbage, and NO dirty clothes. Naruto was lying on the FLOOR. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Just to make sure this was real, Seijunna closed the door, then opened it again, peeking inside. All he could say was, "Wow."

'Maybe I should reconsider giving him what he wants. He's never cleaned his room before. . . I really wasn't expecting him to actually do it.' He stepped out of the room and closed the door, walking to his own bedroom to relax. 'I'll talk to him about it later on.'

* * *

The two sat at the dining room table eating spaghetti Naruto had made from scratch. The blond had surprised Seijunna once again. "Since when did you know how to cook?" Seijunna asked, slurping a noodle into his mouth, leaving the red sauce on his chin.

"Since you're hardly ever here for dinner." He commented a little snobby-like. "Pizza gets old after the twentieth time." He finished. Practically snubbing his father. Seijunna just shrugged and slurped another noodle. The rest of the meal was carried out in silence.

* * *

The next week Naruto spent making sure he kept his room clean, didn't play his video games secretly, and that he made dinner for his father even if he'd have to refrigerate it and then heat it later. Naruto wanted to go to college very badly. He just wanted one last chance to prove himself to other people before he spent the rest of his life flipping hamburgers at Mickey D's.

It was finally Sunday again and the blond wanted to try to make something that would make his father's taste buds tingle. Just to show him how determined to go to college he was. That night Naruto made Pot sticker soup, corn-beef and cabbage, rice, and sweet melon stir-fry.

Seijunna couldn't help, but to wander into the kitchen when the godly smell drifted into the living-room. "That smells great Naruto." The man said practically drooling on himself as he walked to Naruto who was holding a plate out to him. He took the plate and watched as Naruto set a bit of each dish onto it.

After both of their plates were ready they sat at the table and started eating. Seijunna scarred his serving and stood to get more. He walked leisurely to the counter and started to scoop more stir-fry onto his plate.

"You know, Naruto." He said matter-of-factly." It's a good thing you know how to cook."

Naruto leaned his chin on his left hand while he answered with his own question. "And why is that?"

"Well, you'll need to know how to cook when you go to college." Naruto's face lit up. "If you don't have take-out everyday that is."

Naruto dropped his fork, jumped from his seat, and glomped Seijunna. "I knew you would come through!" He yelled and gave his father a big, wet kiss on his cheek.

With a laugh Seijunna set his hands on Naruto's shoulders and pushed him away lightly. "Listen, I'll pay for your tuition, but you have to pay for your food, furniture, and clothes alright? You have some money saved up right?" Naruto nodded. "Good. I'll give you some starter money in addition, but that's all you get." Naruto smiled. "You've got to get a job ASAP."

"Okay!" Naruto shouted joyfully.

"You'll only go after you have a job. Not a moment before okay?" The blond nodded again. "Okay, just tell me when you've got one and we'll get things sorted out." He turned and finished dishing his second helping onto his plate then sat back down to eat. Naruto hastily cleared the dishes and bounced off happily to his room.

He was so excited. He wanted to tell someone, but he had no friends to tell. Instead, he sat at his computer, wiggled this mouse to take it off sleep mode, and set out to find a job.

* * *

**The Interview**

Making sure to be on time, Naruto walked in the door to the shop. Right as he walked in a young looking man screeched, "You're late!" Naruto gasped and looked at his watch. Then his face contorted in confusion. He wasn't late, in fact he was just over two hours early. "You're appointment was thirty minutes ago! Explain yourself!" The man put his hands on his hips to emphasize how angry he was.

Naruto started to panic. "Well... uh... umm... I-" The man scowled and Naruto flinched. "I thought my appointment was two hours from now." He squeezed out as fast as he could.

The man's face turned to surprise. "What's your name?" He asked as he pulled a pad of paper from his pocket.

"N-Naruto." He stuttered. "Naruto Uzumaki." He waited silently for the man to see when his interview was, his lips taught with worry.

The man looked up to Naruto confused. "You're hired." He said bluntly then turned away, waving for Naruto to follow. He did. The man led Naruto past all the tables in the large room and behind the counter with the register. "Since you're here two hours early, I'll start to explain things with you now." Naruto nodded. "Okay, to open the register you press this." He showed Naruto the Yellow button on the register. "Or it'll open when you have to give someone change." He looked to Naruto to confirm that the blond wasn't in anyway confused with the simple thing he just said. He carried on, seeing that Naruto seemed fine. "All of the calculations are pretty straight forward, it'll add tax automatically so don't worry about that. And you'll memorize prices as you go." Naruto nodded again. "Over here is the Latte machine. We'll wait for an order before I show you how to use it... let's see, back here," The man walked down a hall and into a room with an "employees only" sign on it. "This is the lunch room. You can take your breaks and your lunch hour in here, or you can go somewhere else. I don't really care as long as you're on time. Here," He set his hand on a counter top. "Is where everything is. In this bottom cupboard is extra supplies. Napkins, cups, straws, lids. It's all down there." He looked up. "This is all the break supplies. You wash your own dishes and bring your own food. Now, let's discuss your schedule." He walked over to a file case in the far corner of the room, opened a drawer, and slid a single paper out.

"Here, have a seat." He said as he pulled a chair out for Naruto. Naruto sat, still not too sure of what to think of the man in front of him, he still hadn't introduced himself. The man sat next to Naruto. "I'm Keitori Samunaka, the owner of this shop." He held out his hand to Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki, future college student." He replied, taking the others hand firmly into his own hands.

"Ah, college. What are you studying? Oh, and you can just call me Tori." He said, showing his first smile that Naruto seen.

"Psychology. I want to help people out a bit." Naruto replied with a smile of his own. "Pleased to meet you.

"Wow! Psychology! Sounds tough." Tori said, very surprised. "I hope you succeed. Helping out is always a good thing." He reached into his pocket. "Okay, so what hours do you not have classes?" He asked, ready to mark on the paper extracted from the file case.

"Well, I haven't registered for my classes yet. My father wouldn't let me go to any classes until after I had a job. SO I'm not sure when I'm free." He was ready to be denied the job at any second now.

"Hmm... I don't think it works that way. School is the number one thing on your list of things to do. Then family, then work. Okay?" Naruto nodded as if he were a young boy being scolded. "But since I have a great feeling about you, I'll give you two weeks to get your schedule situated. If you can't get everything straight in that time I'm going to find someone else. Am I clear?"

"Very. Thank you for giving me a chance, even if I don't seem ready for this." Naruto smiled. "I'll get my classes arranged ASAP." He said cheerfully.

"Oh, here, take my number. And call when you've got everything ready. Okay?" Tori gave him a card to the shop. "And thanks for stopping by so early. I was in a real pissy mood before. I had another interview," He looked at his watch," An hour and twenty minutes ago and they're still not here. Then you come in, two hours early. I don't know why you did it, but it cheered me up." Tori stood from his seat, holding his hand out to Naruto for another shake. Naruto stood and shook his hand. "See you later then?"

"Yes, see you later." Naruto said with glee. "I'll be happy coming back here. I think it'll be fun." They both headed towards the door.

"Bye!" Naruto shouted from the front door to Keitori who was still in the back.

"See ya Naruto!" Was the only reply Naruto heard as he walked out the door.

* * *

"Sei!" Naruto shouted as he entered his house, ready to tell the good news to his father. Seijunna could be heard walking slowly down the hall towards Naruto. The blond didn't want to ware for his father to get there so he ran towards him with a huge smile on his face. "Good news! I've got a job! Plus, he's giving me two weeks to get my classes set up so my job can work around my schooling. He's super nice, but scary when he's mad. I think I'll like it as long as I don't piss him off." Naruto's smile widened even more.

"Did he really?" Naruto nodded in reply. "Well, I guess we need to get your classes arranged and then your schedule will be all set." Seijunna sighed. "You better be serious about this Naruto. If you waste my money for nothing, you're paying me back with interest." He said sternly.

Naruto just smiled, "It'll be fine, I'll get good marks, I promise." He confirmed.

"Okay then." Seijunna said. We'll get your school schedule tomorrow. Then you can get a hold of the man giving you a job and tell him you're ready to start work." Naruto smiled and ran off with a loud 'Whoo'.

"I'll make something extra good tonight!" Was his cheerful call from the kitchen.

**

* * *

Owari**

**A/N:**

while I wrote this, I started writing really weird things. . . (I was super tired). One thing I wrote down on the paper was "I used the old, drop a boulder on it's head method." I must have been really tired cause at that time I was thinking about Mammoths. . . lol. Another thing I wrote was about space. . . "I'll be able to send messages to one of you in space, while I'm here in Washington." It was weird cause I was just writing away and I had written those things in the middle of the sentences I was already writing.. . I think I should start going to bed sooner now. lol. ;

I'll update my other fic ASAP okay you guys... It's stuck on my comp that doesn't have a monitor and we only have a laptop other than that. . . so I'll try to either get it off soon, or just retype and revise it. Sorry for the hugemugous delay.


	2. Acceptance

Wow A chapter finally up. I've actually almost finished chapter three and I'm going to send that to Kristine within the next week. Thank you thank you thank you Kristine. X3 You bugged me enough for me to get this done and now I'm a writing machine yay! Anyway, on with the story. . .

This chapter was beta-read by **–Kristine X3-**.

Naruto closed the door behind him and sighed heavily. It was his first day at the school but there were no classes. Today was for preparation and such, but for most students, it was just time to socialize and make new friends. The blonde, unlike many other students, decided to unpack and walk around to get used to his new home. It was weird to move away. He had lived with this foster father since he could remember, in the same house for over eighteen years. Before he would go to socialize like everyone else he would do what Seijunna would want him to do. For the rest of the year he would be able to do what he wanted, when he wanted.

He smirked at that thought, but then remembered what Seijunna had told him. He sure didn't want to have to pay Seijunna interest on the cost of his tuition. And this is when he decided, "School will be a top priority from now on. I do need some free-time though. I mean. It is my first time away from Seijunna. And I am going to have friends. I'll finally be able to have fun!" With that said, there was a knock at the door. He turned towards the door, confusion written across his face. He reached for the handle and opened it slowly. There was a boy his age with short brown hair and two red tattoos on either cheek.

"What was that?" The boy asked as he gave Naruto the 'God, you must be a noob,' look.

Naruto laughed nervously. "Well…uh…I just got a little excited I guess." He rubbed the back of his head. "I've never been away from home for more than ten hours at a time."

The brunet looked at Naruto dumbfounded. "You mean to tell me that you've never been to sleep at someone else's house?" Naruto nodded. "Okay, well nice to meet cha, I'm Kiba," the boy said with a certain accent. He held his hand out to the blonde.

Naruto shook his hand happily. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Kiba gave Naruto an odd look. "Hey, didn't you go to Walkerton High?" Naruto nodded slowly. Kiba started to laugh. "No wonder you haven't been to any sleepovers as a kid. Nobody would invite you!" The brunette was practically screaming this. Naruto just shifted his gaze to the floor, bummed that his college years were going to be based around his father.

Kiba hit his shoulder playfully when he noticed that Naruto wasn't finding this funny. "Don't worry about it though. Most of us here are mature now." He looked around the blonde to see how many things he had. "Wow, you sure have a lot to do in here."

Naruto looked behind himself. "Yeah, I better get back to it." He said, expecting the other boy to leave him, but that wasn't the case.

As Naruto started to shut the door, Kiba spoke up. "You want any help?"

The blond looked back to him. "Really? You're not freaked out because my dad's gay?" He asked making sure the other knew a little about him and giving him a chance to leave.

"Dude, like I said, nobody really cares around here anymore. Your father's sexuality has nothing to do with you anyway. For all I care you could be gay, go to a gay party and do… whatever it is you do… and have a wonderful gay time." Each time Kiba said the work gay he put an emphasis on it to strengthen his point. Kiba walked past Naruto, and looked at all the boxes that needed to be put away. "You sure don't travel light." He laughed and knelt down to open a box. When the box was opened, Kiba froze, gapping at the contents. "Holy shit!" He yelled as he picked the gaming platform from the box. It was a PlayStation2, complete with a multitap, four controllers, and various games. "How'd you get a hold of these?"

"They're from my dad." He smiled, knelt down beside Kiba and grabbed a handful of games from the box. He placed them on a shelf underneath a TV stand in the corner of the room. Kiba followed suit and put the PS2 beside the television and grabbed for some games to put onto the shelf. After the box was empty Naruto turned to what he was working on earlier. It was a work in progress. Kiba looked over his shoulder at what was laying on the ground.

Naruto scratched his head in confusion. Kiba took the directions from the floor and looked at them closely. "What kind of instructions are these? Connect piece FG to piece KJ with screws A and B to make the shape of a T?" He tossed the papers to the other side of the room. "Who needs directions?" He said as he looked at the picture on the box to see what it was supposed to look like and picked up two pieces and put them together with screws. The brunet smirked to himself when the project was finished. He crossed his arms across his chest triumphantly and chuckled. "I am so good."

Naruto just laughed and moved on to a box next to him. It contained various office items for his new desk. He set up all his things and Kiba watched him. "How'd you get so much stuff? I've never known anyone who had so many new things at the beginning of his first year. You rich or something?"

The blond was a little embarrassed, but he replied. "Well, I wouldn't say rich. My dad just makes more money than we really need. He hardly buys anything for himself though. He loves to see large numbers in his bank account." Naruto shook his head, smiling to himself as he remembered how his foster father was as if he'd never see him again. That is what it felt like to him because he had been with him for so long. Now it'll be months before he'd get to see the man again.

"Gosh. Why are you going to this school if you have a lot of money?" Kiba wondered as he watched Naruto remove a laptop from a bag and set it on the desk.

"Well, I wasn't the most brilliant student in school. So this is the best school I can really go to. Plus, I don't want to go to a school just because I have money. It's not fair." He shook his head.

"You better remember to lock your door every single time you leave. You'll be really bummed if you don't." He nodded and stood up. "Hey, you want to go meet my other friends? I was supposed to bring them all drinks, but I'm sure they'll understand why I didn't." He grinned happily.

"Why don't we go get the drinks and then go?"

"Cause I forgot what they all wanted," he said as he twirled his key ring around his finger.

Naruto laughed to himself, shaking his head as he grabbed his keys and walked to the door, opening it for Kiba. He closed it and locked it, trying the handle before being satisfied that all his things were safely secured inside his room.

Kiba led the blonde down the hall just a few doors to his room. He ripped the door open and yelled, "Yo!" with a huge smile on his face.

A man with long, dark hair peeked around the corner into the walkway, eyeing Kiba. "You didn't bring the drinks," he said as if he expected it of the brunette.

"Yeah, I forgot. I got a little distracted." He walked in, signaling for Naruto to follow. "This is Naruto. He bunks just a few doors down from here."

The man with long black hair raised himself from the floor slowly then walked to Naruto. "Hyuuga Neji." He held his hand out to the blond.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto replied, taking the others hand in his own. He noticed another man in the corner of the room next to someone munching on a bag of potato chips.

"Hey Naruto," Kiba called. "This is Hinata," he said as he held her hand and smiled to her. The girl blushed brightly. She was obviously easily flustered.

"Nice to meet you," the blond said politely, making the girl blush even more.

"That's Shikamaru," the brunet said as he pointed to a guy in the corner who seemed to be asleep. "He could have gotten into the best school in the state, but he's just too lazy to fill out the darn paperwork." Kiba stuck his tongue out at him for a second and then introduced the blond to someone who was munching on a bag of chips. "That's Chouji." He leaned to Naruto and whispered. "Don't **ever **eat the last chip. He'll seriously kill you." Kiba moved away, nodding to himself. He paused, waiting for someone to say something. But apparently no one was going to. "Okay! Let's go meet someone new!" He yelled, kissing Hinata on the cheek and then pushed Naruto out the door.

There were a lot of other students walking around them, chatting and getting ready for the upcoming school day. Kiba walked down the hall at a leisurely pace next to the blond and asked. "What kind of person do you want to meet?" The brunette waited and waited and waited for a reply, but didn't receive one. He stopped and yanked Naruto's arm, causing the other to stop abruptly and look at him.

"Huh?" was all the blond let out as he tore his eyes away from what he was starring at.

"I saw that," Kiba taunted Naruto with a mischievous smirk.

Naruto blushed, "Saw what?" he said, and denying anything the others accused him of.

"What, are you trying to say you weren't staring at that guy?" Kiba leaned up to whisper in his ear. "You think he's hot don't you?" he teased, making Naruto turn a darker shade of red.

"I-I do not!" he said, gritting his teeth in embarrassment. He started walking down the hall again, his head hanging low and his hands in his pockets. Kiba smirked and chased after the blond. Naruto was acting like a teen with a crush; getting flustered over things like this. It was mean for Kiba to mess with him like that, but he had to admit, it was fun. Naruto walked into his room, leaving the door open for Kiba. He walked straight to the unopened boxes and kneeled down, starting to unpack again. The brunette stood by the door calmly, feeling more guilty by the second. "C'mon Naruto. I thought you wanted to meet people," he started. "Ya know? Get around, go to parties." The blonde sighed and set the box down.

He plopped down into a laying position on the floor, the top of his head pointing towards Kiba. He just stared at the other, half waiting for him to continue and half just not knowing what to say. Naruto didn't think he was capable of making friends with random people.

Kiba stared right back at the blonde intently. "You're going to meet someone today, Naruto," he said firmly, "whether it's that guy or some random chick." Exactly one second after the word "chick" was said, there was another knock at the door. Naruto grunted as he lifted himself from the floor and walked past Kiba to the door. He opened the door widely and looked at the girls outside in confusion.

One of them, a girl with pink hair spoke first. "Hey Naruto, never thought I'd see you here," she said smiling. "Remember me?" she asked, pointing her finger at herself.

Naruto had to think about it for a second, but remembered who she was. He had no doubt that it was her; the pink hair was unmistakable. "Yeah," he said slowly. "You're the one who screamed bloody murder when you saw my father making out." He laughed when he saw the girl's face go from happy to embarrass.

"We were in the third grade Naruto, give me a break. Anyone would have done that if they saw two guys going at it right in front of a school." Her hands were on her hips when she said this. The girl sighed and lifted her hand, telling Naruto to lean down. When he did and the girl leaned up his eyes went wide. His surprise was not due to the kiss he was now receiving, but because the guy he was previously being teased about had walked to the door opposite of his, opened it, and closed it behind him.

The girl leaned away slightly, proud of the impact she thinks she made and whispered. "My name's Sakura." She smiled and slowly started walking away from Naruto's dorm with the group of girls giggling and praising her.

"He so, wasn't expecting that!" one girl said.

"Yeah Sakura, you were amazing!" It seemed as if the girl had her own fan club.

Naruto on the other hand, was still staring at the door across from his. Kiba grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back into the room as if he were a dog. The blond turned to see Kiba smirking. "You were just kissed by a total hottie that remembers you from the third grade and you don't even care do you?"

"S-Sure I do, I just got a little distracted," he tried to assure Kiba.

The brunette frowned as he looked at the blonde. "Look Naruto." He pointed an accusing finger at him, almost threateningly. "Any straight guy," He poked Naruto's chest and the blond backed towards the wall, "who had the girl half the guys in the school wants," he poked him again, Naruto was getting pretty close to the wall, "does not get distracted." Naruto was now pushed up against the wall, trying to escape the pokes. "You. Are. Gay," Kiba said with such finality Naruto just stared down at the brunette dumbfounded.

"I-I like girls too." It was as if he were pouting now, his eyebrows furrowed.

Kiba chuckled and stood back from the blonde and folded his arms across each other. "Either way, you like that guy." He smirked and nodded. "I don't care what you say. Your actions prove it." Naruto stayed silent and leaned heavily against the wall. "What's wrong with liking a guy anyway? I know I'm straight, but I don't see the problem." Kiba was seriously starting to worry about his new blonde friend.

Naruto sighed and looked towards the ceiling. "What if everyone else knew? My social life would be over. Everyone would hate me again." He stayed there a second, but then pushed off the wall to sit on his blue colored bed.

Kiba followed him and sat beside him. "Naruto, no matter what you do, or who you meet, somebody is going to hate you. There are people that hate me because I like dogs. What kind of reason is that? But, you know what. If they don't like you for a stupid reason like your sexuality then you don't need them. You don't need 'friends' like that." He looked to Naruto to see his reaction.

Naruto looked at Kiba. A smirk crept onto his face. "Fine. I think he's an. appealing guy." Naruto laughed slightly and looked at Kiba again. The brunette just looked at Naruto as if he were crazy then burst into laughter beside him.

The both of them sat on the bed, laughing at how they were acting and at what Naruto had said. They calmed down within minutes and lay on the bed, tears filling their eyes from laughter.

After a few more deep breaths to keep him calm Kiba spoke. "Hey, what exactly are you going to school here for? I mean, what's your major?" He wiped the water from his eyes and sat up. He welcomed himself to look at the labels on the boxes in the room as he listened to the blonde's answer.

"I'm here for Psychology. I thought it'd be fun to help people out. Now I'm not too sure if I should, I couldn't even help myself." He laughed quietly and whipped the water from his own eyes.

Kiba snickered. "You'll get it if it's what you want." He said, trying to get the blonde to believe in himself more. Kiba pushed the box in front of him away and looked to Naruto. "You want to go do something?" The brunette wasn't one to sit around for very long and he probably had things of his own to do.

Naruto smiled and shook his head. "Nah, I should get this finished before I do anything else. "He gestured to the many boxes against the wall awaiting their turn to be in their own place in the room. "Thanks though."

"You sure?" Kiba asked a little surprised that the blonde's decided not to come with him. He shrugged though when Naruto nodded. "Alright, your loss." Words like this often came from Kiba's mouth. No insult was intended. He got up from his place on the floor in front of all the boxes against the wall and walked to the door. Before he opened it he turned back and spoke. "By the way, that guy's name is Sasuke." He had caught the blonde's full attention. "Just thought I'd let you know." The door shut behind him before Naruto could say anything.

Naruto lay on his bed, everything now in its proper place in the room as he thought about that guy. "Sasuke," he muttered to himself, trying out the new name. "It fits him." He said contently with a smile. How were things going to turn out between them? What kinds of things would they talk about? Would they ever become friends? The question that was running rampant in his head was none of these though. 'What kind of guy is Sasuke anyway?'

Thanks everyone for reading so far and special thanks to Kristine again for being my beta-reader for this fic. ) Please review and tell me what you think, maybe some suggestions for the story later and requests for things to happen. I'll be very happy to know what you think. D


	3. It finally makes sense

Yay! Another chapter before the year was up. XD Hope you guys enjoy. And thank you -Kristine X3- for being my beta reader. Whoo! D

This chapter was beta-read by **–Kristine X3-**.

Naruto awoke at 5 o'clock that morning with anxiety and anticipation building up inside of him. He wasn't normally a morning person but today was an exception. He grabbed his towel and the day's clothes and stepped out into the hallway in his orange pajama pants. He decided to take the advice Kiba had given him earlier and locked the door, lowering the chance of somebody stealing any of his things. All that could be heard from the blonde was the soft _pat-pit-pat _of his feet on the carpeted floor and the quiet tune he was humming.

His clothes and towel were tucked under his arm as he arrived in the showering room. There were a few other early risers in the room as well, but he didn't take much notice to them, he was too excited for the day. Too many things were running through his mind, distracting him, for him to notice a smaller boy occupying a shower in the far corner of the room. He continued singing his tune as he left his clothes on a bench only a short distance from somebody else's white, button-up shirt and black slacks before walking into the nearest showering stall. He took his time in the warm water. He had well over two hours till his classes began. Reluctantly, he twisted the small knob to 'off' and wrapped the towel around his waist before walking out from behind the small curtain and down the tiled floor to his clothes. His humming stopped when the bench his clothes were on was visible.

It was the guy from before and man, Sasuke, if Naruto had gotten out just a second sooner he would have seen more of him than was decent. The brunet buckled his belt and reached for his blue shirt. Naruto couldn't help, but look at the other. Thin and delicate, but at the same time, he was strong and stern. The way he held himself was with confidence and he carried a calm air about him. His back was muscular while his stomach was strong and taught. Naruto snapped out of his daze when the blue polo fell loosely around Sasuke, covering his whole upper body. He walked towards the bench and pulled his own shirt over his head, still watching Sasuke through the corner of his eye. The blonde took his time in dressing so he could safely watch the brunette. He watched as Sasuke moved to the sinks and continued on with his business.

A hand was placed on Naruto's shoulder and he jumped in surprise. "Whoa, Kiba!" he laughed with embarrassment. "Don't sneak up on me like that." He sighed in relief.

Kiba looked Naruto in the eye. "You're going to get caught if you keep that up." He walked away to the showering stalls, clothes and all. Naruto could only blink in confusion at the back of Kiba. How did he know that he had been looking at Sasuke? Or had he been thinking something else?

Another hand patted his shoulder. It was the guy with long dark hair he had met in Kiba's dorm room yesterday. "It's no use Kiba!" Neji called after the brunette with a smirk as he looked at Naruto's confused face and lowered his voice to a deep joking tone so only he and the blonde could hear. "He can't keep his eyes off." Naruto's tanned cheeks turned a light shade of red when that was said. He looked away to try to hide his face from any onlookers including the now snickering Kiba and Neji. It was dangerous being here now. Sasuke would probably catch on if things continued like this being as he was one of the only ones in the room with the blonde. Most people would want to sleep in today. It was the last chance they would get to do so in a while. Naruto turned and grabbed his towel and his pajamas before walking away, the blush still covering his face.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Naruto dropped his things off in his room and walked down the corridor to the lobby, which was, in turn, connected to a large cafeteria. His face still flushed. The woman who was serving smiled to him. She seemed nice enough so Naruto returned her kindness and ordered his breakfast then paid her the appropriate price and walked to sit down at an empty table by the doors. There were few people in the room. He looked at his watch. Still over an hour was left until his classes started.

Naruto leaned onto his elbow and poked at the scrambled eggs he had on his tray. He was too lost in his thoughts to eat or to notice anybody coming into the cafeteria. People started trickling into the room and a line formed, starting at the counter and ending along the wall. Multiple people sat at the tables near him, but nobody sat at the table he was sitting until Kiba came over to him. This seemed to trigger a chain reaction. Neji, Chouji, Hinata, and Shikamaru all came and sat around him. Shikamaru didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about having to get up earlier than he had usually done.

Kiba eyed the blonde suspiciously. "Hey man, hurry up and eat, it's gonna get cold," he said, trying to snap Naruto back into the present. Upon receiving no response or reaction, Kiba sighed. "Alright, what's eatn' ya?" _'Maybe Naruto has anxiety issues,' he_ thought to himself as he took a bit of his eggs.

Naruto just frowned without looking to the brunette and groaned. He stayed leaning on his hand and poking at his meal. Nobody said anything. He was punched out of his thoughts and brought back into reality when there was a loud crash of plastic dishes hitting the floor across the walkway between the tables. When he looked by reflex to see what it was he saw Sasuke. Sasuke on the ground, food all over his polo and the boys at the table nearest him were laughing.

Everybody was looking at Sasuke. Kiba spoke first at their table. "The bastard just tripped him!" Kiba was rising from his seat, but a strong hand pulled him back down to sit. He turned and was about to start screaming at Neji for stopping him from going over and knocking some sense into those guys, but he stopped when Neji just shook his head.

"It's taken care of," he said as he watched the blonde walk heatedly across the isle to where Sasuke and the boys were.

Naruto slammed his hand down onto the table the boys were sitting at and gave the guy who had tripped Sasuke the death glare of his life. After a good five seconds he slid his hand across the table, knocking a tray with a full bowl of cereal and a small container of applesauce onto the other's shirt. The food mixed to become just a bunch of goo. Not something anybody would want to have on their clothes.

The boy shot up from his seat, his friends watching; surprised somebody was standing up to them. The boy's hair was standing on end and his hands were fisted as he began spouting obscenities at Naruto. With the last words of his shouting he lashed out and threw a punch at Naruto's face only to be surprised when his fist was caught and in the blonde's painfully strong grip. His muscles weren't only for show.

Naruto gave one last squeeze on the hand he had in his own and stayed glaring then pushed the boy back to sitting at the table. It was pretty easy for him; this guy was really weak comparatively. He was only slightly intimidated and needed a couple more shoves back into his seat before he realized that even with using his best efforts he couldn't win against the determined, muscled blonde. Naruto turned back to where Sasuke had fallen and held out his hand.

Sasuke was in a state of astonishment himself and hadn't even thought about getting up until a few seconds after just watching the blonde hold out his hand to him. He wore a confused face as he extended his arm and accepted the help up. Was there really somebody who was willing to help another out who he didn't even know? 'There must be a catch.' he thought to himself. He saw the glare and felt the bad vibes coming from the guy the blonde had "defeated", but looked to the taller boy in front of him when he spoke. He seemed a bit… nervous.

"You…uhm..." he rubbed the back of his head with his hand and smiled nervously. "You've got some milk on your shirt."

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched upon hearing the idiotic comment. _'This guy is really something.' _Sasuke thought, referring to the fact that the blonde had told off a small group of bullies and all he could say was the most obvious thing that could be said. He had to admit the guy could give a good scare. Wait! He was going to say something else! Maybe it was going to be something intelligent this time.

"You should change before classes start." Nope, nothing that required any thought came from the blonde's mouth this time. Sasuke gave the other another glare. He began to walk away, but was stopped when the blonde's hand gripped his shoulder and twisted him around a bit harshly. "You want me to go with you?!" Naruto asked a bit too excitedly. "I mean… since your room is right across from mine I could grab my books and wait up for you… if you want." The blonde was slowly losing his confidence because he was receiving no responses from the other. Was Sasuke annoyed or maybe a little happy? No emotion could be seen on Sasuke's face and that kind of made it difficult for Naruto.

He regained his composure when Sasuke sighed, turned around and shrugged before he started on his way to his room a little perturbed that one of his new shirts was on its way to the clothes hamper so soon.

Naruto took a few quick steps to catch up to Sasuke and walked by his side out of the cafeteria and into the hall. Sasuke's hands were in his pockets while the blonde's thumbs were hooked on the belt-loops on his pants. The brunette could practically feel the nervous energy coming from the blonde, but didn't do anything to try to change it. Sasuke stood tall with confidence; despite how grungy he looked, as he walked down the hall with the blonde beside him.

They were ascending the stairs when Naruto spoke. "Hey, what's your first class?" he looked at his watch. "I have to be in my class in half an hour." The blonde waited for a response, but never seemed to get one from Sasuke. The brunette unlocked his door and walked inside without shutting it behind himself.

The blonde's heart sank when he was never answered. Maybe he was just annoying Sasuke. Would it be better to leave him along? He frowned and turned to unlock his door and grab his book. When Naruto came out of his room and locked the door he could see Sasuke in a clean white shirt, writing something down on a piece of paper as he leaned over an old wooden desk. _'Maybe it's best if I leave Sasuke alone for now.' _the blonde thought as he watched the other from a distance as other students passed by. _'I don't want him to think I'm a jerk.' _ With that thought running through his head Naruto let out a long, slow breath and started down the hall with his books in hand. Many doors shut and many students past him, each time he was hoping it wasn't Sasuke in fear his thoughts would be confirmed.

Now came the time Naruto regretted. He could hear fast paced footsteps coming in his direction and right up next to him. Yes, it was Sasuke, but he didn't seem angry at all. If anything, you could sense that he was feeling hurt. Sasuke didn't let that show on his face though. In the brunette's hand was a white piece of paper that must have been what he was writing on in his room. Naruto was a little taken aback when Sasuke handed the paper to him.

Naruto unfolded it and read what the beautiful calligraphy said,

Today I have only two classes. My first class today, chemistry, starts at 7am, with Prof. Orochimaru. At 3pm I have Law Enforcement with Prof. Kurenai.

About back at breakfast, thanks. I tend to get a lot of shit from that group. Nobody's ever tried to help me even the slightest so I was a little surprised. I apologize if I came off as a snob… it was a new shirt.

P.S. Who are you anyway?

-Sasuke

Naruto couldn't hold his laughter in. Oh how wrong he was about Sasuke. He tried to stop laughing, it was a difficult task, but he succeeded and looked down to Sasuke who was giving him a pleasant smile. "I'm Naruto! We both have chemistry with Prof. Orochimaru together!" He was very excited about having at least one class with the brunette. He'd be able to get to know Sasuke without feeling like a stalker.

Naruto continued blabbering on and on to Sasuke until they reached their class after stopping by the cafeteria to tell Kiba and the others that they were leaving and to get Sasuke a muffin to replace the previous breakfast that was no longer on the floor. They were both almost twenty minutes early to the class and sat on stools at one of the lab stations near the back of the room. Those minutes were spent with the brunette listening to the blonde tell stories about his life. Stories that didn't lead to any suspicion of what he was that is. Kiba and Hinata also joined Sasuke in listening because they had discovered that they had the same class as the two boys did.

Somebody interrupted Naruto's story and shouted to the students, "Everybody in your seats!" The voice was very, what would you call it? Venomous? Snake-like even. People scrambled into the closest seat they could find. Nobody wanted to anger the man who seemed so dangerous already.

The man, who everybody knew was Professor Orochimaru, was reading a paper that was on his desk. He looked up abruptly and looked straight at the table Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba and Hinata were sitting at and spoke in his deep, almost amused voice. "Sasuke." He raised his hand and signaled for the brunette to come over to him as he smirked. Obediently, Sasuke removed himself from his seat and started down the isle slowly towards the professor. He stood in front of the man, his face, as usual, that unemotional façade. Naruto wondered what was going on, but couldn't hear anything the professor was saying to his new friend. The blonde wore a bothered countenance while Sasuke was at the front of the room, giving Orochimaru multiple nods before walking back to his seat next to Naruto. He sighed and slumped over slightly onto the countertop. Naruto watched with wonder, but couldn't say anything to the other in fear that he would be caught by the scary teacher who was now speaking to his class.

Naruto stretched his arms as he exited the lab. He sighed as he let down his arms and looked to the brunette who had not spoken a word to anybody all day. Was it just him or was Sasuke the silent type? He hoped he could get something out of Sasuke. Naruto and Sasuke walked down the corridor, shrouded in the mist of an awkward silence. In a sad attempt to break said silence Naruto asked a question… "So, Sasuke." Another awkward silence took hold for a couple seconds. "Do you… like turtles?" A silly, embarrassed grin ran across his face and his hand shot up to rub his neck as he laughed nervously.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, giving the blonde that look that asked the one question he was really dying to vocalize. "Where the fuck did that come from?" Sasuke quickly got over the initial shock and started walking again, smiling to himself and shaking his head. The last bit of their walk to their dorms was carried out in jokingly pushing each other, smiles, and laughs from the blonde.

The two boys ended up spending their break in Naruto's dorm. Naruto's brain was burning with the question of why Sasuke hadn't once made a sound. No matter how many times he tried to start a conversation it always ended up becoming story time for Sasuke. He could almost say that Sasuke knew everything about him- all but the fact that he was gay and that his latest crush was Sasuke himself.

"That was the best day I can remember with Seijunna. Seriously." He ended. Sasuke sat on the bed next to Naruto, smiling. Naruto gulped as he tried to convince himself to ask his question. He'd never received a reply from Sasuke. He had to get an answer for this question at least. "So, Sasuke… why don't you ever talk? It's kind of weird, ya know? I-I mean, I-It's like I'm kind of talking to myself, but there's somebody listening… if that makes sense at all." He was flustered and embarrassed and worried. He didn't know what to think, the silence between them seemed to grow and the atmosphere became thicker with every passing second.

Sasuke's gaze was cast down and he let out a breath. The atmosphere grew thick as they both sat silently on the bed. The brunette drew in a deep breath and mouthed some words. Naruto only looked at him confused. Sasuke frowned and lifted his hands, signing things with them to try to tell Naruto.

The blonde finally caught onto what Sasuke had been trying to tell him. Sasuke was a mute. Was it just him or was everything just now making sense? Naruto sat, taking the information in before talking again. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? Now I feel like a dork." The blonde was looking down sadly. He felt as if Sasuke had tricked him.

Sasuke bit his lip and looked around. On the desk he spotted a pen and a notebook. He slid off the bed and grabbed the notebook and pen then sat back down on the bed. He wrote a short message to Naruto and handed the book to the blonde. It read:

You were the first person that has spoken to me as if I were just another person since I can remember. I didn't want to tell you because then you would stop talking to me.

Sasuke was looking down, eyes turned away and slightly hopeful as Naruto read what he had written. Naruto looked up at him with a smile wide on his face then he wrapped an arm around Sasuke, pulling him close in a 'manly' hug. "I'd never stop talking to you!" He smiled and laughed. Sasuke couldn't help, but give a small smirk too although his position was a little uncomfortable

Please review you guys. It makes me work faster. -U.


	4. Pink Haired Horror

Shitaki here! I'm sorry for the huge delay, but I'm guessing you guys are used to it… unfortunately… I'm sorry! Please forgive me. I know I take a long time to update, but I promise you this: I will not abandon this fanfic. I love it and I really hope you guys do too. This chapter was beta-read by the amazing and magical **–Kristine X3-**

Also, I've caught word that another author has created a story similar to this one. If you know anything of this, please link me the story in a review (preferably a private message) so I can check it out. I know I'm not the best writer in the world, but I actually put a lot of thought into finding a semi-original idea and I don't appreciate other people copying too close to my ideas. Thank you anybody who gives me more information on this story or author that has a storyline almost exactly as mine does.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke sat in their seats, both as bored as the rest of the class. Though, there was a significant difference between Sasuke and the rest of the large class; he sat up straight, scribbled down notes every so often and looked very interested. The blonde stared at Sasuke with annoyance before grabbing a paper out of his desk and scribbling a note to Sasuke down quickly. He slid the paper across the desk to Sasuke and watched as he looked down to read it. It read: 'Are you seriously interested in this Sasuke?'

Sasuke looked to Naruto after he laughed silently and shook his head at the blonde who was giving him one of those 'are you crazy' looks. He turned back to his paper to write down another small note from what their teacher, Professor Odon, was saying. Naruto grabbed the paper again and wrote another note before sliding the paper again: 'Why do you look so interested then?'

The brunet looked to Naruto, examining his accusing glare. He really didn't want to pass notes in this class. So far he had a perfect grade thanks to him paying full attention during the lectures. Who wanted to hear about the person who made the Kelvin scale anyway? This teacher loved pop-quizzes though so he had to pay attention. Reluctantly, Sasuke took the paper from Naruto and brought his pencil to it: 'Looking interested actually helps you pay attention. You should know that Naruto, you are going into Psychology aren't you? Now stop passing notes. You'll get us both caught.'

The paper was slid across the table again, a smirk on the brunet's face as Naruto read what he had written, and then turned to stick his tongue out at Sasuke. The blonde really was quite amusing at times, that was probably why Sasuke seemed to like him so much. Wait, like him? No, it was part of the reason he saw Naruto as a really good friend. Yeah, that sounded better. Seemingly out of nowhere, Sasuke was nudged in the side and he turned his head to the blonde again, but stopped abruptly when he felt something jab into his cheek. Sasuke brought a hand up to his cheek, rubbing it in an attempt to make the tiny amount of pain leave. Naruto laughed and spoke sarcastically. "Pay attention, Sasuke." Too bad for him, the teacher cleared his throat and stopped his lecture and waited for the blonde to look at him.

Making eye contact with the loud student, the teacher spoke. "Am I interrupting something, Mr. Uzumaki?" he asked sternly.

"I'm sorry Prof. Odon. I didn't mean to interrupt. I was only trying to help a classmate better understand what you're already teaching so well," the blonde said with a seemingly innocent smile. He put an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and heard a few students laughing at how easy it was to trick their professor. "I think he gets it now." He said with his smile still in place as he pulled Sasuke to lean on him. Doing this earned him a glare from his crush, but it was like a get out of jail free card when it came to his teacher who became excited by the fact that a student understood the subject already. Prof. Odon continued on with the lesson, students quietly laughing at the man for being so gullible.

Honestly, Sasuke didn't mind Naruto pulling him close. It was just reflex to glare. The blonde was thinking otherwise though as Sasuke noticed him silently apologizing. Smiling and shaking his head, the brunet leaned over and took the paper they had been writing notes on from Naruto's part of the desk and scribbled down another note: 'Nice save.' He wrote before sliding the paper back to the blonde who smiled when he read the message.

Taking his pencil back into his hands, he began to write: 'God, Sasuke, if looks could kiss I'd be dead a thousand times over.'

Sasuke scoffed when he read that. 'I'm not the one who started the notes; you deserve it.' Sasuke wrote jokingly.

'Yeah, and you also didn't want to keep passing them like this, you're afraid of getting in trouble' the blonde taunted him. 'You're such a goody goody, Sasuke.'

'At least I'm not a daddy's boy who gets whatever he wants.'

Naruto's smile turned into a frown. Surely Sasuke knew how he hated people speaking badly about anything hat had to do with Seijunna. 'I stand up for myself when somebody bullies me.'

Now it was Sasuke's turn to scowl. 'I can't stand up for myself.' He slammed his pen down on the table, causing people around him to jump in their seats and slid the paper to the blonde roughly before staring at the dry-erase board in the front of the class as if it were having a staring contest with the brunet.

The blonde's expression turned from angered to saddened and worried. He turned to Sasuke who he knew was very sensitive about his inability to speak. Sasuke had to be angry now and Naruto couldn't believe he'd make such a huge mistake. "Sasuke, I'm sorry." He whispered sincerely. He didn't want to screw things up with Sasuke, but Sasuke hadn't even given a sign of his forgiveness. He only kept staring forward angrily with his chin resting on his folded hands. Naruto sighed and leaned over, trying to block the other's view of the front of the room with his face. "Sasuke, c'mon. I wasn't thinking, I shouldn't have said that." The blonde was pouting. Something that looked completely ridiculous on the tanned and muscular blonde.

A soft sigh came from the brunet's lips and his stern, angry countenance turned into a more relaxed one. It was quite obvious when Sasuke forgave the blonde; he looked at him with one of those "How-could-I-not-forgive-you-? look.

Naruto's face brightened and a more fitting grin appeared on his face as he moved out of the way of his friend and slung an arm over his shoulders. The rest of the class was carried out in a more relaxed silence, still neither of them really paid attention to the lesson, only content thoughts of each other.

* * *

Kiba caught up to Naruto and Sasuke with one of his usual smirks. "You guys want to catch lunch with us?" He asked, thrusting his thumb in the direction of Hinata who Naruto had met on his first day at the school.

The blonde looked down to Sasuke who only looked back up at him with a shrug. Naruto had learned that the shrug meant, "I'll have time to do my homework later." Not the more commonly assumed, "Whatever, I don't really care," or the all-famous, "I'll go if you do." The blonde looked back to Kiba, who was almost as tall as the blonde himself, with a huge smile. "Yeah! We're up for it. We've got to stop in our rooms, should we meet you guys in the lobby?"

"Nah, just meet us at Abby's." A sly smirk replaced the regular one and he winked to Naruto who then folded his arms over his chest in a flustered, annoyed way. Kiba laughed at the slightly taller guy and began to walk away. "I'll see you guys there then." He put one arm around Hinata and snickered as they walked away.

Naruto grumbled to himself quietly about something they turned to walk the opposite direction as Kiba and Hinata. Sasuke smiled as he watched the blonde curse under his breath. No matter what, Naruto could always make the brunet smile, laugh if he could. He wasn't sure if he had ever smiled so much in his life as he had in the past few days. Naruto was just… well, Naruto. Always spending time and paying attention to Sasuke. It was surprising that the blonde was actually passing all his classes with as much time as he spends with the brunet. Sometimes, Sasuke believes that he's holding the other back. That is the complete opposite though. Without Sasuke, Naruto would be playing games with Kiba in all his free time, never having time for the homework. Sasuke keeps him working on.

The two walked back to their dorms, going into opposite doors as they went to put their things down and get anything they would possibly need, most likely a wallet they had forgotten earlier. Sasuke was the first to come out of his room, locking it behind himself and waiting for the blonde who was taking longer than usual.

Before Sasuke could even wonder more about what was taking so long, Naruto peeked around the corner of his door at the brunet, looking him up and down before disappearing yet again into his room without a word. A moment later he emerged from his room with a bright smile and a paper bag from Z-2, an expensive store on the other side of campus. He held it out to Sasuke and spoke, "Hey, I got you something." He waited for the brunet to take the bag from him, which he did with hesitation.

Sasuke was surprised to say the least, he'd never really received a present from anybody before and he knew Z-2 was expensive. One thing going through his mind was, "Is there a catch?" With the bag in his hand he opened it slightly, peeking in as if something may jump out and bite him on the nose if he wasn't careful.

Naruto quickly tried to rid his friend of those suspicions though. "It's not going to jump out and get you, Sasuke." He joked. "And don't worry about how much it cost. It wasn't much." He said, trying to get the brunet to open the bag. He had high hopes for this gift. Maybe it'd bring them both just a little bit closer, but his biggest hope was that Sasuke would like and accept the gift.

With a newly appeared smile on his face, Sasuke opened the bag completely and reached in, bringing out a dark blue bundle of fabric. He wasn't completely sure what it was yet, but he loved how soft if was. After putting down the bag, he used both hands to hold the fabric up in front of himself. Now he could tell exactly what it was. It was a soft, dark blue sweatshirt. When he turned it to see the back of it, he saw something that surprised him even more than the fact that he was getting a present. The sweatshirt had his family crest on the back of it. How Naruto had gotten his hands on it, Sasuke didn't know, buy what he did know was that he felt like a complete idiot for just standing there and gawking at the clothing.

The blonde watched, but wasn't sure what to make of Sasuke's reaction. "Is it alright?" He asked in hopes that his crush likes it. Sasuke then looked up to the blonde, still surprised, and smiled as he nodded. A sigh of relief flooded out of Naruto's mouth and he visually relaxed. "I thought you didn't like it for a second there. I'm glad you do though. Try it on," he urged the brunet. He wanted to make sure it fit Sasuke properly. If it didn't he'd just have to buy another one. Sasuke obliged and slipped the fabric over his head and pulled it down over his body.

Surprisingly, in Sasuke's opinion, it was strangely comfortable. Not only was the outside soft, the inside was as well. Another thing that was simply amazing to the brunet was that it seemed to fit perfectly on his body. It wasn't too baggy and most certainly not too small. It was warm too. Sasuke kept feeling the fabric, pleasantly content with the way it felt. He looked up to the blonde and mouthed the words, 'Thank you' to him. For some reason, Sasuke felt as if he wanted to jump into Naruto's arms and just snuggle into him. He passed the urge off as just loving the warmth the sweatshirt brought him, and he wanted more. Maybe Naruto could give it to him? Still, even that explanation sounded a little strange. Sasuke thought the blond looked warm? Nah. Must just be the tan.

Naruto went on about the sweatshirt he was now so proud of. "About the fan on the back," he said excitingly, getting Sasuke's full attention right away. "I had studied Japanese before and remembered that the "ha" in your last name could also be translated as "wa". Then something clicked," he said, folding his arms across his chest and looking up towards the ceiling thoughtfully for effect. "I just had to think about it for a minute. Wasn't an uchiwa one of those fans the Japanese used for their fires?" He asked, reenacting the way he felt before. "I looked it up and I was right!" His smile came back full strength and he continued. "I thought you were a fiery type of guy so I had it printed onto the back of your sweatshirt.

Sasuke just kept smiling to Naruto. The blond could really be oblivious couldn't he? He was about to signal towards the stairs that would take them back to the ground level so they could meet up with Kiba and Hinata, but he was interrupted when somebody called to Naruto – somebody with an amazingly annoying voice. The two boys turned when they heard Naruto's name called out.

As soon as they turned, Naruto was captured in the arms of a gorgeous girl. Her arms wrapped around the blonde's neck and she smiled sweetly as she pressed her body against her victim. Before Naruto could say a word, she spoke up, completely ignoring the now angry and glaring mute behind her blond. "Hey, Naruto," she spoke happily into the other's ear after kissing his cheek lightly. Backing away only enough to look the blond in the face, Sakura continued. "How would you like to go out with me this evening?" She blinked three times, one right after the other and fast, flashing her beautiful green eyes at him. This would surely get any guy she wanted, and she knew Naruto must feel so good right now for being the one she gave her affection to.

Actually, it was quite the opposite. He may have looked embarrassed or even flustered, but the feeling that was truly going thought him was worry. He was worried of what Sasuke was thinking. He couldn't even see him right then. He decided. He needed to push Sakura away and get out of there right now. Naruto raised one hand to the pink haired girl's chest to push her away, but realized something once his hand came in contact with her. Women had breasts didn't they? "Shit." Was all Naruto could say. It came out in a whisper though and it was interpreted completely wrong.

Sakura pressed her body even closer to Naruto and practically moaned into his neck. "You really like to get right to it don't you, Naruto?" She noticed that the blond wasn't pushing her away and leaned towards his lips, speaking once more before she intended to kiss him. "Just ditch the mute and come to my room."

Before the pink haired beauty could connect to the blonde's lips, she was harshly shoved away. "So what if he's mute! Look Sakura, I don't even know your last name and from what I've experienced, I don't even want to know you." With that said Naruto turned back to Sasuke and took his hand. "Let's go Sasuke." The blond began to move away, buy noticed that Sasuke wasn't going to follow. With his hand still holding the brunet's, he turned back, ignoring the fuming girl against the wall. With a worried and sincere expression, Naruto spoke to the brunet. "Sasuke, I'm not going to ditch you. Not ever." When he said this, he looked directly into Sasuke eyes, his own conveying all the seriousness he felt to Sasuke. He felt Sasuke relax and let a small smile come back onto his face. It left almost as soon as it came though. Sakura was speaking again.

"Naruto, you're being unreasonable. Won't you just give me a chance?" Now she was acting innocent and helpless. When the blonde only glared and Sasuke watched her with his usual emotionless façade, she continued. "You spend all of your time with… him," she motioned to Sasuke, popular people like Sakura wouldn't know the mute's name, "and you leave nothing for anybody else. I thought that maybe… we could get to know each other. I already love what I know about you."

'No wonder so many guys fall for her. She's good looking and conniving,' the blonde thought to himself. He wasn't going to fall for it though, even if he did have a slight interest in women. "Even if I did want to get to know you, I'm busy today." That was when Naruto tried to make his escape with Sasuke. He began walking past Sakura, Sasuke beside him.

Sakura jumped at the opportunity that she found to possibly get Naruto alone. "Then I'll come by tomorrow and we can have some time for us." She smiled sweetly to the blonde that was walking away and smiled wider when she received a groan from the other. It wasn't a complete no. When the two boys were out of sight, her expression changed though. She frowned and her brows furrowed as she grumbled and began to head away to her own dorm. How could she be turned down? It had never happened before. All the guys loved her and would take any chance they could get to be alone with her in her room. It confused to the say the least, but it also insulted and angered her. 'It's because of that stupid mute he hangs around. Why would Naruto…' She had just realized something. 'Maybe everybody else was right about him. What if he really did become like his father.' The pink haired girl thought to herself. She looked angry as she stomped down the hall, but a smirk began to form on her young face. If she couldn't have Naruto, she would just have to make him pay for embarrassing her and pushing her like he had. She couldn't let even the most charming guy away with that after all.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke walked down the street, Naruto was still angry and tugging the brunet along by his hand. It did occur to the blonde that he was, in fact holding onto Sasuke's hand, but he didn't get his hopes up. He was pulling Sasuke along as if he were on a leash after all.

That thought was what made Naruto slow down. He was pulling Sasuke along like a dog. How stupid could he get? He took a deep breath and let Sasuke's hand go as his pace slowed to almost a shuffle. The brunet slowed down also, fiddling with the hem-line of his new sweatshirt. Naruto sighed and looked down to Sasuke. He examined the expression Sasuke was wearing before he spoke. Sasuke looked like he had mixed feelings. Concern, happy, bothered and troubled were just a few that he could see. It bothered Naruto to see more negative feelings than positive on the other's face. "Sasuke?" The brunet looked up to Naruto, noticeably trying to hide the few emotions Naruto had already read, only failing because the blonde already seen them. "Uhm… well… where should I start…" Naruto thought aloud as he decided how to try to explain himself. "I'm sorry about that whole scene with Sakura. I don't know what she was thinking. Just…uhm… I guess I just wanted to let you know that you don't ever have to worry about me ditching or leaving you behind. I mean… You don't ever have to worry about that. So no matter what anybody says, just take my word for it." The blonde rubbed the back of his neck, trying to knead out the tension that was building up there. He wasn't only worried about looking like a complete asshole in front of his crush, but he was also worried that he may be making himself seem a little feminine because of the way he felt he had to explain himself and try to make Sasuke understand. "Besides, there's only one person I would ever even think of dating and it's not her for sure. She's too bossy and… she's always had to have everything her way and she would do anything to get it. Even backstab her friends." With that said, Naruto decided to put an end to his little one-sided conversation. Sure he knew Sasuke was listening, but there were never any responses except what he could read from the brunet's face. That was difficult on its own too. He knew he held strong feelings for the brunet, but he still considered it a crush. It was first based off of physical attraction, was it not? Plus, he didn't even have the guts to tell Sasuke that he was, at the very least, bisexual. His closest friend and he hadn't even brought it up in fear that he would be pushed away instantaneously. Another sigh escaped the blonde as he thought about all of this silently as they neared to pizza parlor. Every one of those negative thoughts that Naruto just thought brought him down and he hated it. It was completely obvious and he knew it, too. He was always the one to talk and now their lunch was going to be awkward because of him. He hated that thought too and it brought him down even further.

It was silent the rest of the walk to the parlor, Sasuke couldn't break the silence if he wanted to and Naruto couldn't because his moral was just so low. When they entered the pizza parlor, Kiba and Hinata immediately noticed that there was something wrong. They both looked at each other, but Kiba spoke first. "Which one do you want to take?" He asked, not willing to have an awkward lunch.

Hinata took a second to look at the two who had just gotten there. Then she looked at Kiba. He wouldn't be very good at talking to somebody who couldn't reply verbally. "Sasuke," she said, knowing that if anything could be helped, Kiba would be a lot better talking to Naruto.

* * *

Kiba nodded then stood up after tapping the table twice and saying, "Alright, I'll talk to Naruto outside and have Sasuke sit in here." Kiba leaned in towards Hinata, kissing her lovingly on the cheek. "I'll see you in a minute honey." He said before over to the other two guys. "Hey Naruto, I need to talk to you for a sec." He said before turning to Sasuke who was a good six inches shorter than himself, making him at least nine inches shorter than Naruto. "Hinata's sitting on the other side of the parlor." Kiba pointed to her and she waved to them cutely. "We'll be back in a sec, Sasuke." Kiba finished as he began pushing Naruto back out of the door.

Sasuke nodded to the two guys as they left. He thought it as a little strange, but he shrugged it off, heading over to where Hinata was sitting. When he got to the table, he sat down, silently greeting her after she greeted him. Naruto had led Sasuke into many small friendships and he was beyond grateful to the blonde. He'd never had so many people so much as acknowledge him and to think this all happened within a week. It was a bit overwhelming. Sasuke was brought out of his musings when Hinata spoke. It took him a bit by surprise too. Hinata was usually the quiet type.

"How have you been, Sasuke?" she asked with a smile. Sasuke only responded with a smile and a nod to the girl and then she asked another question. "Do you like the sweatshirt Naruto got you?" she asked, revealing that she knew that Naruto had gotten it for the younger male. Sasuke nodded again, his smile still in place as he felt the fabric with one hand again. It was still so soft. With her sweet smile and her tender, comforting voice that she always had, Hinata continued. "Naruto was always worried about you, never wearing anything but a T-shirt outside. You're very special to him, Sasuke." Her smile seemed all the sweeter after she said that and Sasuke said silently in thought. What was that supposed to mean? And what made her so talkative?

Despite the curiosity Hinata made churn up inside of the brunet, her words made him feel warmer inside. It reassured him of what he didn't even know, but he knew it felt good to know Naruto cared. A moment more and Hinata spoke against, seriously, this have to be a record for her. "So, Sasuke…" She started, getting a little flustered. This caught Sasuke's attention right away. What could possibly make her so flustered? "I've been wondering for a while… and I honestly don't mean to be rude asking this but… would you by any chance like guys?" Hinata asked this very quickly and now she spoke quickly again, but this time her blush was a deep red. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke! It's just that I have two friends, one's a boy and the other's a girl. I just don't want them to be led on too long, Sasuke." Hinata was now blushing out of complete embarrassment. Asking right out seemed like the best way of going about and finding the information she wanted. She may have twisted the truth a little bit, but most of it was true. Just leave out the girl part.

Sasuke, in all honesty, had no clue how to answer Hinata's question. Not because he couldn't actually say it, but because he had never been confronted with a question like that before in his life. Plus, somebody liked him? The mute? The guy that was always being bullied until a bigger, stronger guy came along and saved him? Two people had feelings for that Sasuke? Looking back up to Hinata, Sasuke answered her silently.

* * *

As Naruto was being shoved out the door he looked back to the one who was doing the pushing. "W-where are we going?" He asked as the brunet stopped pushing. Naruto was more than a little confused by what was happening and he honestly didn't want to be away from Sasuke after just saying he'd never ditch the younger college student.

"We're just going to walk around the block, don't worry." Kiba stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying to keep them warm as he began his conversation with Naruto. "What's going on?" He asked, eyeing the blonde who just looked at him in pure confusion. Kiba sighed, his breath becoming visible in the air around them due to the cold. "With Sasuke? You guys weren't acting like this when Hinata and I left." Now Kiba waited for a response that wouldn't be so… confused.

Naruto looked away from Kiba in embarrassment and disappointment. "It was Sakura again. This time she kissed me and was practically offering me sex. Sasuke was right there and when I pushed her away…" The blonde's expression turned sour as he remembered what had happened. "I guess it looked like I was trying to grab her breasts… Sasuke was there the whole time and then Sakura said something that really got to him. She told me to ditch him and come to her room with her." Naruto looked to Kiba with a purely hurt expression as he continued to explain what had happened. "He thought I was going to! He honestly thought that I was just going to leave him behind for some stupid…" Naruto attempted to find a word to describe Sakura at that point in time and he wasn't having much luck. He used the word he thought fit her best for what she had done, "selfish." Naruto used a pretty nice word to describe the pink haired horror compared to what most people would call her. Kiba himself could think of a few.

Kiba wanted to laugh at Naruto for the last little comment; he wasn't very good at making fun of other people, but Kiba knew that this was serious to him. Well, more than just serious… Sakura had broken the unwritten rule made by Naruto himself. Never do anything that could possibly hurt Sasuke. Kiba wasn't completely sure what the consequences might be for breaking this law for he'd never broken it. He counted Sasuke as a friend too; he even talked to him, if you could call it talking really.

"What're you going to do about her?" He asked calmly to the blonde. He felt that it was his job to make sure Naruto wasn't going to get into too much trouble. He had to admit it though; Sakura deserved whatever it was that was coming her way.

"I dunno," he said, unsure of whether or not he would do something to her or not. He wasn't used to doing things to girls, they never picked on him very often, but he also felt that she had thrown the ball and hit hard, now he'd have to throw it back at her. "I think I'll wait to see if she tries to do anything else," he finished sadly. He was upset that he wasn't defending Sasuke like he thought he would. He thought he'd beat the crap out of anybody who did anything to Sasuke, he knew he could, but he wasn't ready to do that to a girl for some odd reason.

"Dude, if you don't do something to her if she strikes again then I will," he said matter of fact sort of way. "Sasuke's my friend too." With that he crossed his arms over his chest with a slightly snobby look on his face, but before long he looked to Naruto with his usual expression. "I've got your back, Naruto, whatever it is that you decide to do. Alright?" he asked as they rounded the corner of the street that the pizza parlor was on. Naruto nodded and smiled to him weakly and Kiba spoke again with a smile of his own. "Hinata's talking to Sasuke right now so we've got to give her some time to work her magic," he said, laughing a little at that. He had expected Naruto to laugh as well, but that didn't happen.

Naruto was actually even more nervous about things. "What is she talking to him about?" He asked, deathly worried that the secret of him being gay may slip into the public.

"I don't know. I wouldn't worry about it though. She knows what she's doing, Believe me." Kiba laughed again. "I'm pretty sure that she won't tell him anything too big. She wouldn't do that," he said, giving Naruto a little more confidence in the matter.

The two of them rounded the block again, giving Hinata enough time to do what she needed to do before they would return and eat.

* * *

When Sasuke signaled to Hinata which target his arrow aimed for (1), Hinata frowned and her heart sank in her chest. She hated being the bearer of bad news.

* * *

(1) – If he is gay or straight. You see, if you're gay your arrow is straight, but you aim for a different target. All the straight people aim for the one straight in front of them while the bisexual people need two arrows… get it?

Author's note: Okay, this is a short chapter. Sorry guys. I'm working on the next chapter, not sure when it will be up, but I can guarantee you that this story will not die!

Please review, it does make me work faster. I love you all: )


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